


Through the Spyglass

by mdelpin, Oryu404



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Awkwardness, Baconface Natsu, Disaster Gays, First Meetings, Friendship, Gratsu Weekend 2021, Humor, Klepto Rogue, M/M, Makeover, NOT A KINK, Roommate Struggles, Smooth Gray, Sting The Glitter Fairy, Voyeurism, secret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdelpin/pseuds/mdelpin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oryu404/pseuds/Oryu404
Summary: “You little pervert!” Sting teased, “You’ve been watching him, haven’t you?”“I haven’t!”“Bullshit! How else would you have known that?”“I -,” Natsu tried to think of any other way he could have discovered that little fact, but came up empty. “It’s only been a few times, I swear! I was just trying to find an excuse to approach him.” He hid his face in his hands, embarrassed at being found out.“Well, lucky for you, I’ve got just the thing!”
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Rogue Cheney & Natsu Dragneel & Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35
Collections: Fairy Tail LGBTales, Gratsu Weekend 2021





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KotoriLexy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KotoriLexy/gifts).



> For KotoriLexy - Thank you for all your amazing comments even though we suck at replying to them! This one has all four in full dumbass mode so we hope you like it!

“Nghh, that’s soooo good!”

It mattered little to Natsu whether his housemate Sting was fucking his new boyfriend Rogue or just eating. He’d already discovered the hard way that it was impossible to tell the difference from their sounds. Each one a reminder that while Sting was feasting, Natsu was very much in the middle of a famine.

“You like that?”

Natsu scowled in response. Did they have to be so fucking loud? He turned his stereo on, determined to drown out the noises that were coming from the room next door. It helped a little, but not enough to distract him from what may or may not be happening. And it was late enough there’d be nowhere for him to go.

Where were those comic books he’d been meaning to catch up on? A quick glance around his room was enough to let him know there was no way in hell he was finding anything. Clothes, both clean and dirty, littered the floor and just about every other available surface except his closet. Sealed boxes lined up the walls, waiting for him to get his shit together and finally unpack.

_ Fiine. _

He grabbed as many clothes as he could carry and made his way to their laundry room, also known as the bathroom.

_ Lalala I can’t hear you _ , he thought as he walked past Sting’s closed door, although of course he could, and now Rogue was joining in, expressing his approval at what must arguably be the most delicious ice cream sundae ever fucking made. 

Why had he agreed to room with Sting again?

Open the washer door, chuck clothes inside, pour detergent in the dispenser and hit start. Great, ten points for adulting. Covering his ears with his hands, he hurried back to his room, grabbed the nearest box and sat down, using his pocketknife to open it up. Might as well get started on some of those now that he could walk around his room again. 

That was his intent, but in the end he couldn’t help but examine the items one by one, fascinated by what he found among them. To be fair, even he would admit most of it was junk. He had no recollection of how he’d ended up with most of it, but that’s what made them so fascinating. 

_ Score! _

Finding a container of spicy jalapeño cotton candy, age unknown, he shoved some into his mouth. It was a little stale, but perfectly edible.

He placed the textbooks on the floor without a second look, having already seen more of them than he ever wanted to. There were some more clothes, the exercise ones he’d been searching for, for quite some time.

He scratched his head, wondering who the hell had packed this box. A set of three sex dice, a gag gift from Loke, were next. Maybe he should give them to Sting. He’d certainly get more use out of them.

Knit Your Own Boyfriend, another gag gift from Sting this time, joined the textbooks on the floor. Porn for Women, a book which had pictures of guys doing household chores and shit, almost joined it until Natsu realized some models in it were pretty hot. He’d keep that one. 

_ 101 Ways to Annoy Your Roommate _

He glared at the wall between their rooms. Yep, keeping that one too.

Next came decision dice with messages like Fuck it, Fuck that and Fuck If I Know, followed by a nose flute, a bottle of  _ Maybe You Touched Your Genitals _ hand sanitizer, a tube of bacon lip balm, and a bar of Uranus soap. Every item he pulled out was more entertaining than the last.

He positioned the flute over his nose and mouth and breathed out, having a great time attempting to play along to the music while he continued unpacking, bursting into giggles and some rather interesting sounds when he realized how terrible he sounded.

It was only when he took out the last item, a pair of binoculars Igneel had gifted him when he’d been a boy scout many, many years ago, that he realized all he’d done was clutter the floor again by spreading out the box's contents. 

In no mood to do even more cleaning up, he examined the binoculars carefully, worried they might have broken in the move. He should probably test them out.   


Picking a random subject- the dragon poster hanging above his bed, he aimed the binoculars on it and looked through them. They seemed in great condition, outside of some smudges and dust on the lenses. He grabbed a microfiber cloth off his desk and used it to wipe the lenses clean.

With nothing better to do, he pulled his curtains back and held the binoculars up to his eyes, searching for anything that might hold his interest for a few minutes. He’d settle for a trash-digging raccoon at this point.

What he found, however, was much more interesting. The house across from theirs, which had sported a For Rent sign for as long as he could remember, had a moving van in front of it, and the lights inside the house were on. He was a little curious why someone would move in this late at night, but that thought ceased to have any importance as soon as he got a good look at his future husband- uhm, new neighbor.

The guy had dark hair that stood up in unruly spikes. His skin gleamed in the moonlight, so much so Natsu wondered if he might be glittering like a certain gay vampire.  _ He can absolutely bite me! Yum! _ And if that wasn't the sexiest fucking glower he’d ever seen in his life, Natsu didn't know what was. 

He couldn’t make out the guy’s eyes, but he was almost willing to bet they were blue. This was all great, but it was his chest that Natsu kept staring at because for once in his life God had been merciful and the guy was shirtless, giving him the opportunity to ogle every one of his taut muscles.

“What are you doing?”

Natsu jumped at the sound of Sting yelling behind him, almost losing his grip on the binoculars. His hand moved to his heart as the nose flute squeaked loudly from his rapid breaths. He removed it, tossing it on his bed, and glaring at his roommate who stood laughing at him.   
  
“Jesus Fucking Christ, Sting!”

“What? I tried calling out to you, but your music was too loud.” Sting tiptoed his way around the mess on the floor to get to the stereo, lowering the volume so they could speak without having to shout at each other.

“Well, if you and Rogue hadn’t been having a food orgy next door, I wouldn’t have had to play it so loud.”

“Yeah, nice deflect. Wait, are those your scout binoculars? What were you looking at?”

“N-nothing, yep nothing at all.”   
  
“Ah, so you like listening in  _ and _ spying on people, huh?” Rogue stood in the doorway, still licking what Natsu only hoped would be sundae off his fingers.

“I do not!” Natsu spluttered, “You guys are loud enough the new neighbor probably heard you!”

_ Fuck. _

“There’s a new neighbor?!” Sting jumped over the box, grabbing the binoculars, which were still hanging around Natsu’s neck, and pulling them up to his eyes. “Oh, I see what you were looking at, alright,” he snorted.

“You’re cho-king me,” Natsu gasped out.   
  
“Whoops, sorry about that-” Sting pulled the string over Natsu’s head and continued to observe the scene across the street. “You should go over there and offer to help him out.”

“Hell no.”   
  
“Why not? He’s cute.”

“Because it’s like 11 o’clock and he’ll think I’m a weirdo.” 

“It’s not that late. If we were still at the dorm, you wouldn’t think twice about it,” Sting pointed out. “You could take your shirt off too.” 

“Yeah, cause that’s normal,” Natsu didn’t like the way Sting’s eyes seemed to twinkle. Not one bit. 

“Man up, Dragneel,” Rogue dared, joining them at the window to get a look at the guy they were talking about.

“Look, I get you guys would like nothing more than to get me out of the house, but I’m broke and I’m not about to go make a fool of myself just so you can get it on. Besides, newsflash, not everyone is gay.”   
  
“Your point? Not everyone’s straight, either,” Rogue countered, crossing his arms.    
  
“Yeah, and I hate to break it to you, but we’re gonna get it on regardless,” Sting snickered, earning himself an eye roll from Rogue when he used the binoculars to zoom in on him.

“Right, well, don’t let me keep you,” Natsu said, grabbing the binoculars from Sting before he shoved both of them away from the window and closed the curtain.

“Ooh, sex dice!”

“You want them? Here, take them,” Natsu said, offering the dice to Sting and then throwing them out the door as hard as he could.

“Hey!”

“You don’t really expect him to chase after them, do you?” Rogue chuckled, unconvinced, but his laughter died abruptly when Sting hurdled over all the crap on the floor like some kind of Olympic athlete.   
  
“Suck, toes, 50 seconds!”    
  
“You were saying?” Natsu’s grin was smug as he shooed Rogue out of his room, locking the door behind him and collapsing in a tired heap on the floor. Those two were fucking exhausting.

A few moments later he realized he was wasting precious time and dragged himself back to the window, hoping to find his new neighbor still out there lifting boxes out of the van. Sadly for him, he was not. Although the lights were still on, the doors to the moving van were closed and despite his best efforts, Natsu wasn’t able to see him anywhere inside the house either.

He had to admit that Rogue was right. It was stupid not to even try just because he was afraid of a negative outcome. That had never exactly been the Dragneel way of doing things, although of course that might also be why he crashed and burned much more than he scored.

His cheering squad, however, was about as dangerous as a firing one, so if he was going to make a move he’d have to keep it a secret from them for as long as he could manage it.

He’d just have to watch a little longer, at least until he found an opportunity to introduce himself. Satisfied with this plan, he set his music on a timer and climbed into bed, already looking forward to learning more about his neighbor in the coming days.

0-0

“He’s  _ so _ not straight,” Rogue called from the bottom of the stairs, closing the front door behind him and announcing his arrival a moment before coming up.

“Yay, you’re back,” Natsu muttered, not even bothering to look up from the magazine he’d been reading.  
  
“Who’s not straight?” Sting came out from the kitchen, holding a bowl of chips and plopping on their living room couch.

“Your new neighbor,” Rogue said, looking incredibly pleased with himself as he took off his shoes and jacket. 

Natsu flipped the page, refusing to take the bait even though he was itching to know more. “Fascinating, and how would you know that exactly? Did he show you his membership card?” 

“In a manner of speaking.”

Well, that caught his interest. Natsu waited for him to say more but the sonofabitch knew he had him and now he was going to force him to ask. Sadistic asshole. 

He stayed strong, willing Sting to ask for him, but the bastard just kept shoving chips into his mouth and watching the two of them with interest.

Natsu turned the page of his magazine slowly, attempting to wait Rogue out.

“I saw him arrive when I got here, so I thought I should introduce myself,” Rogue explained, keeping Natsu waiting while he joined Sting on the couch, greeting him with a kiss. 

“You talked to him?!” Natsu threw his magazine on their coffee table, dropping all pretense of disinterest. “What did he say?!”

“He said his name’s Gray Fullbuster, and that he moved in a few days ago. So then I said, yeah, I know, we watched you through a pair of binoculars.”    
  
Natsu could feel all color vanishing from his face, while Sting almost choked on his chips.   
  
“Kidding,” Rogue snorted, smacking his boyfriend on the back a few times. “I asked him where he’s from since he has a bit of an accent. Turns out he’s from Isvan.”    
  
“He’s got an accent?” Natsu groaned. He was so screwed. 

“What’s the matter with  _ him _ ?”

“Natsu has a thing for accents, always has.”   
  
“And you have a thing for assholes!” Natsu retorted, tossing a pillow at Sting’s face, hoping he’d stop laughing.    
  
“I mean, don’t we all?” Sting caught the pillow and put it behind his head. “Oh, speaking of which, how do you know he isn’t straight?”    
  
“It wasn’t hard,” Rogue shrugged, shoving his hair back away from his face, “His backpack had a bi flag pin on it. Oh, and he asked me if there was an art supplies store downtown, so I figure he’s an artist.”

“Yeah, he is.” Natsu blurted out, recalling the night he’d spent an hour watching Gray sketching a cat, fascinated by how lifelike he’d made it seem. The sudden look that passed between his friends made him realize his mistake.

“You little pervert!” Sting teased, “You’ve been watching him, haven’t you?”

“I haven’t!” 

“Bullshit! How else would you have known that?”

“I -,” Natsu tried to think of any other way he could have discovered that little fact, but came up empty. “It’s only been a few times, I swear! I was just trying to find an excuse to approach him.” He hid his face in his hands, embarrassed at being found out.

“Well, lucky for you, I’ve got just the thing!” 

Natsu peered at Rogue from between his fingers, not sure he liked the way he’d said that, especially when he looked like a cat who had just swallowed a canary whole. 

“What did you do?” 

Almost as if by magic, several envelopes materialized in Rogue’s hand. 

“I may have liberated some of his mail.”

“Are you out of your mind?! You can’t just take someone’s mail, Rogue. That’s illegal!”   
  
“Says the stalker. Besides, it’s only illegal if you get caught,” Rogue smirked, examining the envelopes in his hand before setting them on the coffee table. “These were just delivered to the wrong mailbox, that’s all. They look important, though. You should make sure he gets them back. We wouldn’t want him to get in trouble.”  
  
Sting had the decency to look shocked, but that only lasted for about a minute, replaced by what Natsu could only interpret as admiration. “That’s perfect!”   
  
And next thing he knew, they were in full scheming mode, mumbling to each other as if he wasn’t even there.   
  
“He should open up a few buttons, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Maybe fluff up his hair?”

"On it!" 

“Oh, no. I want no part of whatever it is you two are thinking!”    
  
Natsu made a show of grabbing his magazine and opening it back up, but Sting had already gone off to his bedroom. The ominous sounds of him rummaging through closets and drawers traveled through the walls, and soon he returned holding a bunch of items. A comb, a tube of hair gel, some fancy-looking body spray, one of his infamous crop tops, and… was that Natsu's bacon lip balm? 

"Did you just steal that lip balm from my room?" 

"It's not stealing if I'm using it on you, dumbass. Now be still."

“Get away from me with that crap!” Natsu stood up from his chair, ready to bolt and lock himself in his bedroom.

“You wound me,” Sting sighed. "I even grabbed you my best one-" he held up the top and pouted at it. 

“I am not putting on one of your stupid shirts.”

"His shirt's fine," Rogue sided with Natsu for once, “it just needs some re-adjustments.” He straightened the collar of Natsu’s button-up, pulled down the sleeves so he could roll them up neatly again, and opened up the two top buttons.  
  
“Pucker up!” Sting made kissy faces as he approached him with the lip balm, and although Natsu refused to purse his lips, that did nothing to dissuade him. He still managed to apply a generous amount of it on the general area of his mouth. 

“Ugh, that tastes awful!” Natsu complained, wiping the excess off with his hand.

“It’s bacon, man. All dudes love bacon, am I right?”    
  
“On my plate, yes. But on your face?” Rogue looked like someone spit in his socks.

Sting didn’t let Rogue’s response get him down, cheerfully moving on to the next item in his arsenal. A bottle of body spray that had little bits of something floating in it. Was that-

“Glitter?! No way, no how. I’m going to look ridiculous.”

“You’re going to look  _ and _ smell awesome.”

“It’s glitter.”

“Which of us has a boyfriend?”

Okay, Sting had him there, but did he really need to be primped up like some schoolgirl about to go to Prom just to say hi to the guy? It was humiliating. If he went through with this ridiculous ploy, and that was still a big if, he wanted to at least make a good impression.

“It smells nice, and Gray’s an artist. Maybe he’d appreciate the glitter,” Rogue said, grabbing some chips from the bowl and moving over by Sting. 

“He doesn’t make kids art projects. He draws beautiful, realistic looking pictures.”

“Oh,  _ sorry _ ,” Rogue fake apologized, holding up one hand next to his head while feeding Sting chips with the other.   
  
Sting took advantage of Natsu’s distraction, spraying him before he could protest further.

“Hey, watch the face!”

Natsu had to admit the spray smelled nice, but in his rush to do a sneak attack, Sting had sprayed very liberally, covering not only Natsu but the coffee table, which had Gray’s mail on it.

“Oh, great. How am I supposed to explain that?”

“Will you chill? By the time I’m done with you, Gray won’t care about some stupid glitter on his mail,” Sting promised as he set the spray down and opened the tube of hair gel, squeezing some into his hand and moving to pluck at Natsu's hair. 

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Natsu grumbled.

“Oh, come on, have I ever steered you wrong before?” Sting grinned, brimming with confidence, only to wince as he paused to think. “Okay, maybe don’t answer that.”

Natsu chuckled, thinking back to some of Sting’s more hare-brained suggestions over the years. He had this habit of getting carried away, but Natsu had never regretted going along. Even when things went sideways, they always had fun, and he knew his friend’s affection for him was genuine. So why was he fighting him so much now, when he was only trying to help?

“Fine, fine, do your worst.”

"Pftt, please. I perform nothing but miracles."

Rogue grabbed a stool from their kitchen island and brought it into the living room, gesturing for Natsu to sit so Sting could get started.

He let Sting fuss over his hair for the next ten minutes, his fingers sculpting it into well-defined spikes away from his face.   
  
“Done!”

“Not bad,” Rogue said after giving him a once over. He grabbed the mail from the table and handed it over. “Now get going.”

“What, now?”

“No, next week. Yes, now!”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” Natsu hedged.

“On that note,” Sting stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out an object that he placed on the coffee table. “Roll.”

Natsu recognized the decision dice he’d left on his desk. "Seriously?! What are you two, kleptos?" 

“Just roll.”

“Okay, but if it says no, we’re done here, right?”

Natsu picked up the dice and studied them, unsure of what he wanted the outcome to be. He shook them lightly in his hands and tossed them on the coffee table.

“Fuck in’ a?”    
  
“Fuckin’ A!” Sting cheered and raced to his room again for more digging through drawers, and this time he returned with only two foil packaged items that fitted between his fingers. Both things Natsu easily recognized but had no intention of using during his first meeting with Gray.   
  
“Oh my God!” he backed away, “I’m just gonna go return his mail and introduce myself!”

“You were a Scout, weren’t you?” Sting grinned, extending his hand to offer the packets. “Didn’t they teach you to always be prepared?”

“I’m just gonna go drop these off,” Natsu rushed out of the room and down the stairs, hearing Sting and Rogue’s laughter and a warning to not be back soon. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gratsu Weekend 2021  
> Prompt: Disaster

  
  
Passing the mirror in their small entrance, Natsu checked himself out just to make sure he looked somewhat presentable. His hair looked good. His shirt wasn’t bad either, save the glitter, but his skin looked like he’d been eating bacon everywhere Sting had applied the lip balm.  
  
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to get rid of the greasiness. It kind of worked, but some of that glitter must've been on his hand, and he’d now smeared it over his face, which still smelled like breakfast. As did his hand, and he couldn't even go back upstairs to wash it off because the muffled sounds told him he absolutely did not want to be there right now. So with no other choice, he opened the front door and stepped outside.  
  
_Fuck my life._  


That should have been a choice on those damn dice. 

Natsu took a moment to examine the three pieces of mail in his hand. His eyes narrowed as he read: Or Current Resident typed beneath Gray’s name. He wanted to strangle Rogue. Junk mail? Really? What kind of idiot went out of his way to return junk mail? 

_Great._

He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that at least the last letter seemed important. Placing it on top, he figured he might as well get this over with. Gray could see what a fucking disaster he was, and he could get back to his famine. 

Still, Natsu’s natural optimism refused to let him give up completely, not to mention his curiosity. After days of watching Gray through binoculars, he couldn’t help but be a little excited at meeting him in person. 

He crossed the street, keeping his eyes fixed on Gray’s front door until he stood outside of it. 

_Alright Dragneel, you can do this. You have a valid reason to be here, and you’re looking very fine._

He was about to ring the doorbell when the door opened unexpectedly, putting him face to face with Gray. 

The first thing Natsu noticed now that he could see him up close, was that his eyes were indeed blue, and as he stared into them, he couldn’t help but smile at being right. 

“Hi?” Gray frowned, giving Natsu an inquisitive once over, gaze lingering on the glitter sticking to his shirt. 

Natsu listened with fascination as Gray somehow made that one word sound like the sexiest thing he’d ever heard. 

“Are you alright?” 

Natsu blinked, confused by the question until he realized he still hadn’t said a word, just stood there gaping like an idiot. 

“Mail,” he blurted out, holding out the letters. “I mean, I have your mail.” 

“Oh, thanks for bringing it over,” Gray said as he grabbed the letters from Natsu. He looked down at the envelopes, his mouth twitching as he examined them. 

“You, uh, really like glitter, huh?” 

“Would you believe I was assaulted?” 

“By who, the glitter fairy?” 

Natsu roared heartily at that, earning himself a smile from Gray. “Close. I'm so calling him that from now on.” 

“Well, it certainly looks good on you.”  


Was Gray flirting with him? _Yes!_

  
“I’m Natsu, I live across the street.” he extended his hand for a handshake, completely forgetting about the lip balm. 

“Gray, but you already know that,” Gray shook his hand, and it was only when he let go quickly, his expression changing from friendliness to disgust that Natsu remembered. 

Noooooo! Things had been going so well! 

Gray sniffed at the air, “Do I smell bacon?” 

“Bacon?” Natsu chuckled nervously, wiping his hand on his pants leg, “That’s kind of random.” 

“Right.” A beeping noise had Gray pulling out his phone, “Well, it was nice to meet you. I guess I’ll see you around,” he muttered, peering down at his phone’s screen. 

“Yeah, bye.” 

Natsu couldn’t believe he’d crashed and burned so hard, so fast. Fucking bacon balm. And now he’d have to go back home and listen to the two rabbits. He turned around, but Gray had grabbed him by the arm before he could get moving. 

“Change of plans. I need a favor,” he said, dragging him inside the house and up the stairs. 

“Hey, let go of me. What the hell?!” Natsu dragged his heels and tried to loosen Gray’s grasp on his arm. He was no slouch, but this guy was just as strong. 

“Take off your shirt,” Gray said calmly, once they’d reached his studio. _Damn that accent!_

“Excuse me? Are you mental?” Natsu might have been protesting, but his fingers were moving, deftly undoing buttons until he stood with his shirt open, debating what to do next. 

“Perfect, let me go get some things,” he left the room, and Natsu could hear the tap running, followed by the sound of him rummaging through drawers not too long after. 

This wasn’t at all how he’d expected their meeting to go, but he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. He’d already unbuttoned his pants and was working them down his legs when Gray returned holding art supplies, which he immediately dropped. 

_Oh._

Natsu could literally feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, which was perhaps the best place for it to be right then. 

“Whoa! What are you doing?” Gray yelped and looked away, similarly flushed. 

“Yeah, I’d like to know as well,” Natsu griped, pulling his pants back up. “First you blow me off, then you drag me in here and ask me to take off clothes.” 

“So you figured I’d gone from blowing you off to wanting to blow you instead?” 

Gray looked away from Natsu, his hand moving to cover his mouth, but he soon broke into loud belly laughs. “Oh my God, you are so cute. But you’re right, I didn't explain.” 

Natsu stood waiting, as patiently as he was able, while Gray picked up his supplies and set them on the desk. “Well?” 

“Oh, right. I have a live model project due tomorrow and my mate cancelled on me at the last minute.” 

“Mate?” 

Of course Gray was already taken. The guy was gorgeous. It had been stupid of him to think otherwise. 

“Uhm, what do you call it here?” Gray’s forehead creased in thought, “Buddy?” 

Natsu desperately wanted to ask if he _was_ taken, but he’d already humiliated himself plenty. “So what do you need me to do exactly?” 

“Not sure yet.” Gray studied him, lifting Natsu’s chin and easing his face from left to right before removing his shirt and tossing it on the desk. He asked Natsu to turn around and observed him some more until finally seeming satisfied. 

“Just stand over here,” he ushered him to a spot near the window where the lighting was better, and then posed him like a figurine. Gray fixed his posture, put his hands inside his pockets, and tilted his face at a slight angle. “I guess that’ll do,” he shrugged, taking a few steps back to assess the result. “Now all you need to do is hold that pose so I can draw you for my project. Think you can do that for me?” 

Natsu massaged the back of his neck, unsure of what to do. While he’d like to stay and help Gray out, everything he’d said or done since he’d arrived had only made him seem like a complete idiot. Plus, he was notoriously bad at keeping still. 

“I’d tell you I’d make it worth your while but, given the pants incident, I’m a little apprehensive about what you might ask for in return.” Gray prodded with a teasing smile. 

Damn that accent, and his good looks. He didn’t want to give up and go home yet. Fuck it. How much worse could he possibly make it? 

“How about you never bring that up again, and we’ll call it even.” 

Gray laughed, “Deal, I’ll even throw in some pizza.” 

Natsu tried not to focus on Gray's closeness, or the way his skin sizzled at the subtle touches as Gray moved him back into the pose he’d wanted to draw. 

“Now, don’t move,” Gray warned, settling behind his desk. He grabbed a pencil and his sketchpad and got to work. 

With not much else to do, Natsu watched Gray work, noticing little patterns here and there. Things he hadn’t been able to see from his window. Like the way Gray would draw his lower lip between his teeth right before doing a bunch of erasing, or the little half-smile he’d get when he was pleased with his progress. But Natsu’s favorite by far was the way his tongue peeked out the corner of his mouth when he seemed to be in deep focus. 

Soon, even that wasn’t enough to hold his interest but anytime he tried to strike up a conversation, Gray ignored him. It didn’t help that he was fucking freezing, standing there half naked, or that his phone kept vibrating in his pocket. He began to fidget. 

“You’re moving again,” Gray scolded. 

“How can you expect me to stay still when it’s freezing in here? What are you, some kind of ice princess?” 

“Funny.” he said, giving Natsu a dirty look. “I suppose I could turn the heat up a little. I wouldn’t want your nipples to freeze off before I could draw them.” 

Gray got up and stretched, leaving Natsu alone in the room while he went to adjust the thermostat. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket, eager to see what all the notifications were about. 

There were dozens of them. 

_How’s it going? 👀_

_Did he invite you in?_

_Way to go! 👍😎_

_You should have taken the condom I offered, 🍆💦🍑 🔥😏_

_Hey, you’re not answering, does that mean you’re busy?! 👀👀👀👀👀_

_What’s happening!!!!!_

It went on and on… until he finally caught up. 

_Going to look for your binoculars…._

_Why are you standing there half naked?  
  
I see you reading…. Why aren’t you answering me?_

He turned to look out the room’s window, mortified to see exactly what he’d been afraid to see: two shadows standing inside his bedroom. He had to close the blinds, but the sound of Gray’s footsteps echoed loudly in the mostly empty apartment, approaching too fast for him to make a move. 

“You moved again, is there something outside?” Gray peered out the window. 

“I thought I saw a light on in my room,” Natsu explained, pretending to give the matter little importance. 

“Here, I made some cocoa to help warm you up. You might as well take a break.” 

“Thanks,” Natsu accepted the mug gratefully, even as his phone continued to vibrate in his other hand. 

“Shouldn’t you answer that?” 

Natsu shook his head, “He’ll stop eventually,” he said, praying it was true. He wouldn’t put it past Sting to show up if he thought something was wrong. 

“Needy ex?” Gray sat at his desk, leaning back in his chair with his own mug and studying his drawing. “Those are the worst.” 

“Oh no, that’s not it,” He quickly changed the subject, realizing how embarrassing it would be to explain what was actually happening. “Can I see what you’ve done so far?” 

“Sure, knock yourself out,” Gray had been about to pass him the sketchbook, when he seemed to reconsider. “On second thought, go wash the bacon grease off your hands first.” 

“That’s not what it is! Do you really think I walk around with bacon grease on my hands?” Natsu protested. 

“How would I know? I just met you. Anyhow, bathroom’s that way.” 

Natsu put his mug down and looked at where Gray was pointing, noticing that the house had a very similar layout to his. His phone continued to vibrate, this time with an incoming call, but he waited until he’d reached the bathroom to answer. 

“What?!” Natsu yelled as loudly as he dared. 

“Don’t you what me, Dragneel! I was worried. You disappeared and then you weren’t answering,” Sting snapped, “We know nothing about this guy. He could be a serial killer.” 

“I’m fine.” 

“Yes, I know that now. Where’s your shirt?” 

“I’m just posing for him for an assignment!” Natsu hissed, “His model bailed at the last minute.” 

“Okay, I guess that sounds legit.” 

“Thanks, _Mom_. Now can you please get out of my room before he sees you?”  
  
“He’s taking his shirt off!” Rogue’s voice rang through the phone. “Is that part of the _assignment_ too?”  
  
“He’s primping in the mirror now!” Sting added excitedly, “Fixing his hair and… Oh shit.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“He, uhm... he just waved at us…” 

“He what?! Gotta go, bye!” Natsu hung up, powering off the phone before they had a chance to call back. 

Natsu turned on the faucet, letting the water warm up while he scrubbed his hands with hand soap. Examining his face in the mirror with a frown, he decided to go ahead and wash it before nervously returning to the studio. 

Gray looked up at his approach, handing him the sketchbook without saying a word. Natsu saw that he had indeed taken his shirt off, but decided it best not to bring attention to it. He could feel him watching for his reaction to the drawing, which was much further along than he’d thought. 

It was strange to see himself on paper, especially when the drawing made him look much better than he thought he did. 

“Do you like it? I mean, it’s not done yet,” Gray crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. 

“Like it?” Natsu puzzled, “It’s amazing! Even though you’re making me out to look much nicer than I really do.” 

“What are you talking about?” Gray grabbed the sketchbook from Natsu, looking from him to the drawing. “That’s exactly what you look like to me.” 

“I-,” Natsu couldn’t even begin to come up with a response to that, so he went ahead and addressed the elephant in the room. “I’m sorry about my friends.” 

Gray waved away his apology, “They’re just being good friends. They probably expected you to have come home by now.” 

“Yeah. They’re also a pain in the ass though.” 

“You think they’re bad? Just wait til you meet my mate Erza.” Gray handed him the mug, “You should drink this before it gets cold.” 

Natsu nodded, drinking the whole thing down in one gulp and setting the mug back on the desk. 

“Alright, let’s get you back into your pose,” Gray stood up, following Natsu towards the window. 

Fingers grazed Natsu’s cheek as Gray adjusted the tilt of his head, resting there as their eyes met. Natsu’s heart raced at the intensity of that gaze. He tried to tell himself that Gray was only studying him for the drawing, but it was hard to think when their bare chests stood so close together. Especially with the added torture of Gray’s fingers tracing their way up Natsu’s face. 

“You got your hair wet. Let me fix it.” 

Gray’s fingers tugged and pulled at Natsu’s hair, sending shivers of pleasure from his scalp all the way down his spine. “There you go, good as new.” 

After making some final adjustments, Gray hurried back to his desk, picking up the pencil and getting back to work. He only looked up at Natsu a few times, the pencil diligently gliding across the paper as he kept adding to the drawing. At some point, he stopped to look at his work, the hint of a smile forming on his lips when he switched the pencil for what looked to be a white pen. He added some finishing touches here and there, and by the time he put the pen down, Natsu was equally relieved and disappointed. 

Gray leaned back in his seat and stretched, presenting Natsu with a magnificent view of his chest and abs. It wasn’t like Natsu had never seen it before. The guy walked around his house shirtless more often than not, but he looked so much better up close than through a pair of old binoculars. 

“It’s done. You can move now.” 

“Oh. Right.” 

Natsu took a moment to stretch as well, slowly rolling his shoulders and neck to ease some soreness out of his muscles. Once done, he made a beeline for his shirt, putting it back on and remembering to leave the two top buttons undone. 

“So, what do you think?” Gray asked, handing him the sketchbook again so he could see the finished result. 

Natsu was stunned. The drawing looked almost like a photograph. That white pen Gray had used towards the end had created some amazing highlights, like the glitter on Natsu’s skin and the light reflecting in his eyes, really making the artwork come to life. 

The doorbell rang before he could give his answer. 

“Oh good, it’s here. Hold that thought,” Gray led him to the kitchen where he grabbed his wallet from the counter before hurrying down the stairs to answer the door. Natsu continued to stare at the finished drawing with awe, having trouble accepting that this was how Gray saw him. 

Soon, Gray returned, holding a large pizza box and a 2 liter of soda. “I did promise you pizza.” 

Natsu watched with mixed feelings as Gray set the food on the counter, wanting to tell him he hadn’t needed to do that. That he’d had fun posing for him, but before he could do so his stomach growled in response to the smell of food wafting in the air. 

“Is that... bacon?” he sniffed the air, then his hands again to make sure he wasn’t just imagining things. 

“Yeah, I got you a bacon pizza considering how much you seem to love the stuff.” 

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” 

“Nope,” Gray snickered, opening the pizza box and helping himself to a slice. 

Natsu grabbed a paper plate, loaded it up with slices, and looked around for somewhere to sit. Finding no other furniture, he sat on the floor with his back against the cabinets. A moment later Gray joined him, handing Natsu a paper cup and placing the two liter in front of them. 

“Sorry about this,” Gray said, “I have to get around to buying furniture. I had to move rather unexpectedly, so all I‘ve got right now is my desk and a bed.” 

“Well, you can always come over to our place. We’ve got a pretty nice setup.” Natsu bit into his pizza, moaning at the taste and shoving more into his mouth. “This is fantastic!” 

Not seeing any napkins, he used the back of his hand to wipe some of the grease off his mouth. 

“You’re easy to please, aren’t you?” Gray chuckled, stretching to open a cabinet and snatch a roll of paper towels, which he offered to Natsu. “Good to know.” 

Natsu ripped one from the roll and shrugged. “I like things simple.” 

“Can’t argue with that. Well, I for one am glad you showed up today. You really saved my bacon,” Gray snorted, dissolving into giggles. 

Natsu groaned and pushed Gray with his shoulder. 

“Sorry, couldn’t resist.” Gray pushed back, his laughter finally subsiding. “Anyhow, what did you think of your drawing?” 

“It looks amazing! You’re so talented.“ Natsu said earnestly. “Can I see some of your other work?” 

“Sure, I have some on my phone,” Gray took out his phone and started fiddling with it. 

“So, uhm, how come you lost the shirt?” 

Gray looked up with a frown, “You’re joking, right? It’s sweltering in here.” 

“Sweltering?” Natsu repeated, dumbfounded. “Oh right, Rogue mentioned you were from Isvan.” 

“Rogue,” Gray’s eyes sparkled with amusement, “That’s the bloke that stole my mail, right? I thought he was checking me out.” 

“Nah, he’s my roommate's boyfriend. He was just trying to get me to come introduce myself.” 

“So hang on, the glitter, the hair- that was for me?” 

Natsu nodded, and not wanting to see Gray’s reaction to his admission he got up and snatched two more slices of pizza from the box. 

“Okay, now I have to ask. What the hell was up with the bacon thing? That was nasty!” 

“Right?!” Natsu sat back down and told Gray all about Sting’s makeover attempt, finding it pretty funny now that it was over with. He was delighted to hear Gray laughing along beside him, even as he fended off his attempts to steal one of his slices. 

“Oh man, that’s great! You didn’t have to go through all that. Though I gotta say, the glitter definitely sold it.” 

“I’ll make sure to let him know.” 

“Uhm here,” Gray handed him his phone, “Just tap the screen to go to the next one.” 

Natsu wiped his hand on the paper towel before touching the screen, soon becoming lost in Gray’s art. There were some other portraits of men, and Natsu didn't like those much. It made him think Gray might have also sat with them like this. There was a striking portrait of a redhead that caught his attention. She looked intense, certainly not someone you'd want to cross. 

“That’s Erza, my mate I was telling you about.” 

Natsu nodded, making a mental note not to piss her off before moving on to the next one. There were lots of different styles, including a few that looked like they would be at home in some of his comic books. He commented here and there, continuing to tap the screen, unsure of what it was he was looking for until he found it. The picture of the cat he’d seen Gray draw a few days earlier. 

“You like that one, huh?” Gray peeked to see which one he was looking at. “That’s a recent one.” 

Natsu smiled fondly, “Yeah, it reminds me of Happy, my childhood cat. We used to do everything together. He was my best buddy.” 

He told Gray some stories about Happy, leading to them both sharing silly childhood memories as they finished the rest of the pizza and half of the soda. Much too soon, it was getting dark outside, and Natsu knew their time together was ending. 

“Shall I walk you back home?” Gray asked, getting up and dusting off his pants. “You know, just to make sure the glitter fairy won’t worry about you.” 

Natsu wanted to decline, he lived right across the street after all, and he didn’t need anyone to protect or watch over him. He’d be fine on his own. 

But... that would be stupid. 

“Sure!” 

“Ok, let me just grab a shirt and turn down the thermostat.” While Gray disappeared into his bedroom, Natsu washed his hands in the sink, not wanting a repeat of earlier. 

Gray followed Natsu down the stairs, locking the door behind them. It took them less than a minute to reach Natsu’s front door. He’d just curled his fingers around the doorknob when Gray cleared his throat behind him, causing him to turn and face him. 

“So I was thinking, if you like that cat picture, I could, uh, send it to your phone.” 

“Oh, sure!” Natsu remained oblivious to what Gray was asking for a few seconds, stuck on the thought of being able to look at the picture whenever he wanted. “Wait, you want my number?” 

“Sure, I have a live nude project due next week,” Gray waggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

“Wh-aat?” 

“Relax, I was just teasing,” Gray’s laughter washed over Natsu, followed by words he hadn’t expected. “I _would_ like to see you again, though.” 

Natsu could only nod and stammer as Gray handed him his phone so he could add his number. He could barely even remember it, distracted as he was by the thought that Gray wanted to see him again, but he made sure he’d plugged the right one by giving himself a call before returning it. 

“Well, uhm, good night,” Natsu waved, feeling awkward and not sure what else to do. Should he shake his hand, give him a hug? 

He didn’t have long to worry as Gray peered into his eyes with the same intense gaze as he’d done at the studio. Closing the small distance between them with one step, Gray leaned in slowly, tilting his head and closing his eyes as he pressed his lips to Natsu’s for a soft kiss. 

It only lasted for a second, but it was enough for Natsu to feel it all the way down to his toes. Gray moved back, licking his lips and opening his eyes. 

“I thought about that a lot while I was drawing,” he admitted with a shy smile. 

“Oh,” Natsu mumbled, amazed he’d gotten even that much out. His brain was a jumble of inner screaming, disbelief, and just pure joy at the idea that this amazing, gorgeous guy seemed to like him as much as Natsu liked him, and oh dear god that accent. He couldn’t get enough of it. 

Gray chuckled, tracing his fingers over Natsu’s cheek one last time before waving goodbye. 

Natsu watched Gray walk back to his house, wanting to see him until he went inside, but he found himself being dragged into his house and grabbed by the hands. Next thing he knew he was bouncing up and down with a screeching Sting and an only slightly less enthusiastic Rogue. 

Thankfully Rogue kept Sting from carrying Natsu piggyback up the stairs in a victory lap. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he stopped celebrating long enough to check it. 

As promised, Gray had sent the cat picture, along with a text. 

_Sweet dreams 🥓boy 😉_

Rolling his eyes at the bacon reference, Natsu typed a reply, thrilled to know his famine was finally at an end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: We really hope you enjoyed this story at least half as much as we enjoyed writing it. This might be our favorite Natsu, Sting and Rogue combo we’ve ever written. It’s entirely possible we might visit them again someday.

**Author's Note:**

> We've created a discord called **The Unholy Trinity** as a way for you guys to be able to chat with us about our stories, fandom, or general writing. Come hang out with us! Here is an [invite](https://discord.gg/ubxJy6rqYy)


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